18 JULY 22, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Serving up the history of a classic Glendale restaurant
BY THE OLD TIMER
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
The year 2005 was a bleak one
for fans of two beloved restaurants
in Middle Village and
Glendale.
First, there was the news that
Niederstein’s Restaurant — an iconic
Middle Village eatery with roots dating
back to the Civil War — would
close that February. A popular place
to celebrate birthdays, holidays,
even weddings, the need for major,
costly improvements proved too
much for the owners to keep it going.
Then, within weeks, the Ridgewood
Times reported that Durow’s
Restaurant in Glendale — another
great institution that hosted generations
of family and social functions
— was closing down, too, for many of
the same reasons that led to Niederstein’s
demise
“ONE MORE NOW DONE” blared
the headline that ran on the front
page story about the closure in the
March 3, 2005, issue of the Ridgewood
Times. It marked the end of
a great restaurant that had roots
dating back to the early 20th century.
In 1909, Louis Sahner — who
owned 2.187 acres of farmland in the
area of Myrtle Avenue and presentday
81st Street — was in his 50s and
finally had it with farming. He had
sold one acre on the eastern end of
the property and retained his farmhouse
and the remaining 1.2 acres
of land. He subsequently leased
the building and land to Frederick
Wener, who established a saloon on
the premises that he operated until
1911.
In 1912, William Palmer leased
the premises and operated a saloon
there until about 1919. During National
Prohibition, in the 1920s, it
became “Johnston’s 19th Hole,” a
speakeasy that also rented lockers
to the golfers who played across the
street at the Forest Park Golf Course.
When Prohibition ended in 1933,
the 19th Hole closed down; it remained
shuttered for the next three
years until Henry “Happy” Miller”
leased the site from the Louis Sahner
estate in 1936.
Happy Miller had been an iceman
and had been kicked by a horse at the
Wallabout Market. After prohibition
ended, he operated Happy’s Village
Tavern, located at 79-65 Metropolitan
Ave. in Middle Village.
Starting in 1936, Miller also
Ridgewood Times archives/Greater Ridgewood Historical Society
The exterior of Happy’s Bar and Restaurant, which immediately preceded
Durow’s Restaurant. Ridgewood Times archives/Greater Ridgewood Historical Society
operated Happy’s Tavern at 81-01
Myrtle Ave., Glendale. He fixed the
bar room and had plaster frescoes
of jockeys and horses placed on the
walls.
On Aug. 1, 1940, the Estate of Louis
Sahner renewed the lease to Henry
and Louis Miller for five years at a
charge of $200 per month, plus water
charges.
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